3 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts Introduction The debate on the direct effect of directives in so-called horizontal situations was not concluded by the ruling of the Court in the case Faccini Dori 1. The recent development of case law may lead to the conclusion that provisions of directives can, at least in certain circumstances, produce direct effect in disputes between two individuals. Cases such as Kraaijeveld 2, CIA Security 3, Unilever Italia 4, Linster 5, Bernáldez 6 and Pafitis 7 have provoked discussion concerning not only the effect of Community directives in national courts, but also the concept and character of direct effect of Community legislation in general 8. The purpose of this article is to analyse the recent case law of the Court and to reflect the resulting reaction in academic writing. It is already well established in Community law that the provisions of a directive may, in certain circumstances, produce direct effect. The Court, however, ruled on several occasions that a directive cannot of itself impose obligations on individuals and, therefore, cannot be relied upon in proceedings against an individual. This means that if a Member State fails to implement a directive, its provisions cannot be invoked in domestic litigation even if they otherwise satisfy the conditions for direct effect. In consequence, a directive that has not been correctly implemented loses its practical importance and, as long as the Member State concerned does not amend its legislation (this usually happens as the result of infringement proceedings), then the harmonisation envisaged by the directive is not achieved. This conclusion is not substantially altered either by the application of the doctrine of consistent interpretation or by the fact that the Court has adopted a very broad definition of a state. The obligation to interpret national law in the light of content of a directive must face significant limitations. First of all, such an interpretation cannot lead to results contra legem 9. Moreover, it seems that in order to decide in a particular case which interpretation may be considered as contra 1 Judgment of 14 July 1994, C-91/91, [1994] ECR I Judgment of 24 October 1996, C-72/95, [1996] ECR I Judgment of 30 April 1996, C-194/94, [1996] ECR I Judgment of 26 September 2000, C-443/98, [2000] ECR I Judgment of 19 September 2000, C-287/98, [2000] ECR I Judgment of 28 March 1996, C-129/94, [1996] ECR I Judgment of 12 March 1996, C-441/93, [1996] ECR I See for example S. Prechal, Does Direct Effect Still Matter?, 37 CMLRev. 2000, p This limitation seems to be recognised by the Court. The obligation imposed upon national courts to interpret national law in accordance with Community law applies only as far as possible. See also: Ch. Hilson, T. Downes, Making Sense of Rights in EC Law, 24 ELR 1999, p. 129 et seq. 3

4 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... legem, one should refer to national law rather than to Community law. Although an individual may ask the national court to interpret national law in the light of the directive and sometimes the national court is even under the obligation to do so, any particular result of that interpretation cannot be guaranteed under Community law. The right to demand consistent interpretation by a national court is, therefore, of a purely procedural nature. Secondly, the Court has recently adjudged that the doctrine of consistent interpretation reaches its limits also where such an interpretation leads to the imposition on an individual of an obligation laid down by a directive which has not been transposed 10. As far as the latter possibility is concerned, the fact that the Court interprets the notion of a state very broadly is of vital importance only in disputes involving public authorities of a Member State who failed to implement the directive. On the other hand, a large number of directives are capable of influencing legal relations between individuals either by regulating aspects of private law (ex. consumer protection) or by providing for a public law mechanism that may be invoked in such legal relations. The third method of strengthening the effectiveness of directives comes from the principle of state liability. The fact that a state could be liable to an individual in damages for loss caused by its failure to implement a directive constitutes a very important tool of enforcing Community rights. Nevertheless, its practical importance is undermined by the fact that an individual claiming damages must bring appropriate proceedings in a national court and satisfy the conditions laid down by national law for this cause of action (even though the Court declared that Community law precludes the application of some procedural restraints arising from the national law 11 ). It seems that the requirement that a breach of Community law must be sufficiently serious may appear particularly burdensome in the case of directives. In fact, the only situation where a breach of Community law would clearly pass the sufficiently serious test for liability is a when there is a complete failure to implement a directive on time 12. If, however, a Member State adopts certain measures in order to bring its legislation in conformity with a directive concerned, one could hardly plead that each time a wrong implementation occurs, a serious breach of Community law can be attributed to the Member State. It should be emphasised that, especially in private law, in the case where each country has its own, distinct tradition, the national legislatures should possess a very wide margin of discretion while implementing Community directives. Another reason why the principle of state liability does not considerably strengthen the effectiveness of directives is of a practical nature. Any proceedings in a national court involving the alleged liability of the state for its legislative activities requires a sophisticated legal analysis and, normally, the burden of proving that the conditions for liability are fulfilled lies with the plaintiff. These circumstances would, therefore, restrain individuals from initiating the appropriate proceedings, especially in small consumer cases. 10 See judgement of 26 September 1996, Criminal proceedings against Luciano Arcaro, C-168/95, [1996] ECR I-4705, par See judgment of 19 November 1991, Francovich, C-6/90, [1991] ECR I-5357 as well as the judgment of 5 March 1996, Brasserie du Pecheur, C-46/93, [1996] ECR I See judgment of 8 October 1996, Dillenkofer, C-178-9/94, /94, [1996] ECR I

5 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... According to settled case law, a directive cannot of itself impose obligations on individuals and, therefore, cannot be relied upon in proceedings against an individual 13. It was understood that the denial of horizontal direct effect of directives is not limited to situations where an individual invokes a particular right stemming from a directive, but extends also to situations where an individual relies on a directive in order to refute a claim based on national law that is contrary to a directive. Some recent decisions of the Court, however, may suggest that this principle is no longer accurate or, at least, that its application is subject to many exceptions. Particular uncertainty arises when considering the possibility for an individual, in proceedings against another individual, to exclude the application of national law that is contrary to a directive. In the present article I would like to analyse several judgments that could be understood as a modification of the Court s case law. It seems plausible to distinguish from the group of the controversial judgments those concerning the application of Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field technical standards and regulations. 13 See especially the case of Faccini Dori. 5

6 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts Inapplicability of National Laws that Have not been Duly Notified Under Directive 83/189/EEC The problem of horizontal application of national regulations that have not been duly notified under Directive 83/189/EEC was dealt with by the Court in cases like CIA, Unilever and Eco-Emballages 14. In all three cases, one party invoked against the other the inapplicability of national law adopted in breach of Directive 83/189/EEC. This Directive obliges Member States to notify to the Commission all drafts of technical regulations before they are adopted. The purpose of this instrument is to restrain the Member States from introducing legislation that would create obstacles to the free movement of goods within the meaning of Article 28 EC. The first two cases, i.e. CIA and Unilever, are the first examples of the application of the said Directive to horizontal situations. In both cases the Court ruled that national technical regulations adopted in breach of Directive 83/189/EEC were inapplicable and, accordingly, cannot be enforceable against individuals. The outcome of the two cases was that the parties to the proceedings in national courts (the plaintiff in CIA and the defendant in Unilever) could invoke Directive 83/189/EEC against individuals in order to render the national legislation at issue inapplicable. The two cases by no means imply that the Court has recognised the horizontal direct effect of directives. First of all, in the case of Unilever the Court obiter dictum upheld the rule that a directive could not be relied upon when the defendant was an individual. However, the Court pointed out that the same reasoning could not be applied to the proceedings of the case. According to the Court, Directive 83/189/EEC creates neither rights nor obligations for individuals and, furthermore, does not define the substantive scope of the legal rule on the basis of which a national court must decide the case before it. Consequently, a breach of this Directive constitutes a substantial procedural defect and renders a technical regulation inapplicable 15. Another explanation of a particular nature of Directive 83/189/EEC comes from the opinion of Advocate General Jacobs in the case of Unilever 16. His reasoning is based on a comparison of the procedure provided for in 14 Judgment of 6 June 2002, C-159/00, [2002] ECR I This explanation of the two cases based on the argument that the Directive at issue does not impose any obligations on individuals seems to be accepted in the legal writings, see: M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What? Back to basics, 25 ELR 2000, p. 512; Ch. Hilson, T. Downes, Making Sense of Rights..., p. 125; P. Craig, G. de Burca, EU Law, Oxford 2003, p. 221 and 222. On the other hand, P.J. Slot considers that this argumentation is not entirely convincing (see note on the case CIA, 33 CMLRev. 1996, p and 1050). 16 [2000] ECR I

7 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... the Directive with the procedures contained in Regulation No 17 (competition law) and in Regulation No 659/1999 (state aid) 17. The purpose of all these measures is not the approximation of laws, but the establishment of a preventive control mechanism 18. Advocate General rightly observes that Directive 83/189/EEC might have been adopted in the form of a regulation rather than a directive and, consequently, he formulates the question whether the case law on the consequences of non-implementation of directives is of any relevance in proceedings involving a breach of notification procedure under the said Directive. Even though the Court did not make any reference to that argument, in any event the wording of the judgment implies that Directive 83/189/EEC must be distinguished from other (traditional) directives. This way of thinking, however, is not entirely convincing in the light of the judgement in the case Lemmens 19. Mr. Lemmens, charged with driving a car under the influence of alcohol, sought to rely on the fact the national regulation on breathalyser apparatus was adopted in breach of Directive 83/189/EEC. The Court distinguished this case from CIA and ruled that a failure to notify makes such a regulation inapplicable only in so far as it creates obstacles to the free movement of goods. For that reason it could not render unlawful the use of a product which conformed to national regulations, where the use of that product had no impact on trade. The Court s reasoning seems to exclude the idea of absolute inapplicability of national legislation enacted in breach of Directive 83/189/EEC. The Court observes that a failure to notify regulations renders such regulations inapplicable inasmuch as they hinder the use or marketing of a product which is not in conformity therewith. The judgment, however, does not contain any indications that would delimit the precise scope of inapplicability of national regulations. The most conceivable explanation could be to argue that a directive can be invoked only by those persons whose interests are intended to be protected by the directive 20. This kind of Schutznorm requirement would not be in harmony with the main stream of the Court s case law. In cases dealing with Directive 85/337/EEC providing for an obligatory environmental impact assessment, the Court expressly refused all arguments based on the fact that the Directive did not aim to grant any individual rights 21. In the case Kraaijeveld the Court stated: [W]here the Community authorities have, by directive, imposed on Member States the obligation to pursue a particular course of conduct, the useful effect of such an act would be weakened if individuals were prevented from relying on it before their national courts, and if the latter were prevented from taking it into consideration as an element of 17 Paragraphs 79 et seq. of the opinion. 18 With respect to this, it seems that the mechanism provided for in Regulation No 659/1999 is particularly similar to that contained in Directive 83/189/EEC. 19 Judgement of 16 June 1998, C-226/97, [1998] ECR I See S. Prechal, Does Direct Effect, p See for example the judgment in Kraaijeveld and the judgment of 19 September 2000, Linster, C- 287/98, [2000] ECR I

8 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... Community law in order to rule whether the national legislature, in exercising the choice open to it as to the form and methods for implementation, has kept within the limits of its discretion set out in the directive. One could easily transfer the same principle to the case of Lemmens: Why should an individual be prevented from relying on the fact that the national regulation on breathalyser apparatus was adopted in breach of Directive 83/189/EEC? The reasoning of Lemmens that is based on the Schutznorm requirement could hardly be reconciled with the similar decision in Unilever 22. Assuming that the purpose of the Directive 83/189/EEC is to eliminate the obstacles to the free movement of goods between Member States, why should an individual be allowed to invoke the provisions of this directive in order to claim that goods delivered by him were in conformity with the contractual obligations? After all, the Directive in question aims neither at regulating standards of evidence in criminal procedure nor does it intend to interfere with purely contractual relationships between the parties. The recent judgement of the Fifth Chamber in the case Eco-Emballages suggests that the Court has slightly modified its jurisprudence on the effect of Directive 83/189/EEC. Although the facts of the case were quite complex, it suffices to say that Sapod Audic was granted a non-exclusive licence to affix the Green Dot logo on its products as a means of identifying waste for collection. Sapod Audic chose one of the two systems of waste disposal provided by the French decree implementing the Directive 75/442. In 1996 Sapod Audic ceased to pay an annual fee to its licensor Eco-Emballages. In its defence Sapod Audic argued inter alia that the decree was a technical regulation under Directive 83/189/EEC and was not duly notified to the Commission. The Court agreed that some provisions of the decree fell within the scope of Directive 83/189/EEC. As far as the consequences are concerned, in one part of the judgment that Court recalled its earlier principle of inapplicability of national law which was not notified according to the required procedure. Nevertheless, paragraph 52 of the judgment reads: It should, however, be observed that the question of the conclusions to be drawn in the main proceedings from the inapplicability of the second paragraph of Article 4 of Decree No as regards the severity of the sanction under the applicable national law, such as nullity or unenforceability of the contract between Sapod and Eco-Emballages, is a question governed by national law, in particular as regards the rules and principles of contract law which limit or adjust that sanction in order to render its severity proportionate to the particular defect found. However, those rules and principles may not be less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions (principle of equivalence) and may not be framed in such a way as to render impossible in practice the exercise of rights conferred by Community law (principle of effectiveness). 22 See S. Weatherill, Breach of directives and breach of contract, 26 ELR 2001, p

9 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... The reference to the principle of procedural autonomy means that the Court distinguishes the inapplicability of a national regulation from the effect of that inapplicability on contractual relationships between the parties. Relying on the facts of the case, one could easily imagine that even though the French decree should be considered inapplicable, the contract between the parties could be fully enforceable under French law. This distinction may lead to substantial uncertainty in practice. In many instances, it would be extremely difficult to identify whether specific contractual obligations result purely from the national technical regulations or whether they were voluntarily undertaken by the parties 23. Certainly, these issues will require further clarification in subsequent case law, especially where it relates to the scope of the application of the principle of effet utile. 23 See interesting analysis of M. Dougan, 40 CMLRev. 2003, pp. 203 and 204; see also S. Weatherill, Breach of Directives, p

10 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts Other Examples of the Horizontal Application of Directives The recognition of horizontal direct effect of directives may possibly be implied from the Court s decisions in cases like Pafitis, Bernáldez and Smithkline 24. Unlike the cases discussed above, in these proceedings the Court was called upon to interpret provisions of traditional directives and, therefore, the possible explanations provided through the Court s reasoning in CIA and Unilever are of no relevance here. In the case of Pafitis a Greek court asked for the interpretation of Directive 77/91/EEC that deals inter alia with the capital of public limited liability companies. The proceedings in the national court involved a claim brought by original shareholders of a Greek bank against the bank and its new shareholders. The applicants contested the decision of the Governor of the Bank of Greece (and of the temporary administrator of the bank designated by the Governor) to increase the capital. They successfully pleaded that under the relevant Directive such an increase required a general meeting of shareholders. Although the Court did not make any reference to horizontal direct effect, it did interpret the directive in such a way as to rule in favour of the applicants. The second case concerned the interpretation of Directive 72/166/EEC and Directive 84/5/EEC relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles. Mr. Bernáldez was prosecuted for causing a road accident while driving a car under the influence of alcohol. The criminal Court of Seville ordered him to make reparation for the damage to property that he had caused to a third person. At the same time, the Court absolved Mr. Bernáldez s insurance company from any liability since under Spanish law an insurer is not obliged to pay damage caused by an intoxicated driver. On appeal, a higher Spanish court doubted whether the exclusion was compatible with the relevant Directives. The Court of Justice ruled that the Directives must be interpreted as precluding an insurer from being able to rely on statutory provisions or contractual clauses in order to refuse to compensate third-party victims of an accident caused by the ensured vehicle. Similarly to the case of Pafitis, the Court did not make any reference to horizontal direct effect of directives. Another case that may suggest the analogous approach of the Court is the judgment in Smithkline. The defendant, Smithkline, was marketing toothpastes in Austria, which were manufactured in Germany. In statements appearing on the tubes and in television advertisements, Smithkline claimed that the toothpaste helped to prevent parodontosis and removed or prevented the formation of tartar. Its competitor, Unilever, sought an injunction restraining the making of such 24 Judgment of 28 January 1999, C-77/97, [1999] ECR I

11 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... statements as contrary to the provisions of the applicable Austrian legislation. The national court referred to the Court of Justice one question for the interpretation of Article 28 EC and Directive 76/768/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products. The Court ruled that Article 6(3) of the said Directive precluded the application of national law restricting certain forms of toothpaste marketing. Although the Court did not make any statement on direct effect, it is understood that the only outcome of the ruling for the referring court is that the plaintiff would be disabled from relying on the national law and the defendant would thereby gain the benefit of the prohibition in the directive 25. One cannot argue that in these three judgments the Court recognised horizontal direct effect of directives. As it was already mentioned above, in the judgment of nine judges in Unilever (that was delivered almost two years after Pafitis and Bernáldez) the Court obiter dictum confirmed that a directive could not be relied as such against an individual. Moreover, in the case of El Corte Ingles which was decided at almost the same time as Pafitis and Bernáldez, the Court clearly stated that an individual cannot base a right of action against a private party using only the directive as its legal basis. The latter case concerned proceedings brought by a finance company against a consumer, Mrs. Blazquez Rivero, for re-payment of credit loans. Mrs. Blazquez Rivero entered into a contract with a travel agency, but due to shortcomings in the service provided to her, she ceased to pay instalments on the loan. At that time, Directive 87/102/EEC on Consumer Credit was not implemented into Spanish law, but the defendant, nevertheless, tried to invoke Article 11 (2) of that Directive in order to pursue remedies to compensate for the shortcomings against the grantor of the credit (plaintiff in the proceedings). The Court also confirmed its refusal to recognise horizontal direct effect of directives in a recent judgment in the case of Centrosteel 26. An Italian court asked for the interpretation of Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents, even though the Court had already ruled on the same issue in another case 27. However, the Italian court was not sure whether the interpretation stemming from the earlier case could be applicable in relations between individuals. The Court reaffirmed that the national court was only bound to apply the consistent interpretation of Community Law 28. Another decision which clearly confirms the denial of horizontal direct effect of directives is the order of 24 October 2002 in the case Riunione Adriatica di Securtà SpA (RAS) 29. Here an Italian court referred several questions on the interpretation of some provisions of Directive 73/239/EEC concerning the takeup and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance. It was apparent from the facts of the case that the Italian legislation providing for a maximum amount in insurance premiums in respect of third-party liability for motorists was contrary to Article 8(3) of the said Directive. The result of the refusal to apply national law in the main proceedings would be to impose on the defendant 25 P. Craig, G. de Burca, EU Law, p Judgment of 13 July 2000, C-456/98, [2000] ECR I Judgment of 30 April 1998, Bellone, C-215/97, [1998] ECR I See also the judgement of 14 September 2000, Collino and Chiappero, C-343/98, [2000] ECR I C-233/01, [2002] ECR I

12 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... (the insured person) an obligation to pay the full amount of the insurance premium to the insurance company. Having pointed out that the answer to the questions referred could be clearly deduced from the existing case-law, the Court reaffirmed its position on direct effect of directives: With a view to replying to the national court, it should be recalled that, in accordance with settled case-law, when applying national law, whether adopted before or after the directive, the national court having to interpret that law must do so, as far as possible, in the light of the wording and the purpose of the directive so as to achieve the result it has in view and thereby comply with the third paragraph of Article 249 EC, but a directive may not of itself impose obligations on a private individual and may not therefore be relied on as such against such a person. Referring to the facts of the case, the Court emphasised: In this case it is apparent from the information provided by the referring court and from the observations submitted to the Court of Justice that the purpose of the main proceedings is to ask the national court to disapply the Decree-Law in favour of previous national legislation, on the ground that the Decree-Law is incompatible with Directives 73/239 and 92/49, in order to obtain judgment against Mr. Lo Bue for the payment of an insurance premium in an amount greater than that which would result from the application of the Decree-Law. However, in accordance with the case-law mentioned in paragraph 19 of this order, interpretation of Article 8(3) of Directive 73/249 and Articles 29 and 39 of Directive 92/49, which has been requested by the national court, cannot, in any event, enable judgment to be given against Mr. Lo Bue for the payment of an increase in premium which is not based on the national law applicable to the main proceedings, namely the Decree- Law. If the Court still refuses the horizontal direct effect of directives, what then are possible ways of explaining the approach presented in Pafitis, Bernáldez and Smithkline? 30 : a) The Court does not rule on direct effect unless specifically asked to do this by the referring national court The first and the most obvious explanation could be that in all those cases the Court was not asked to rule whether relevant provisions of directives could be relied 30 Another case that raises similar doubts is the case of Draehmpaehl (judgement of 22 April 1997, C- 180/95, [1997] ECR I-2195). An applicant in the proceedings before the national court invoked Directive 76/207 on equal treatment in order to prove that the national law did not provide him with a real and effective judicial protection. See interesting comments on that case: M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p

13 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... upon against private parties 31. The questions put forward by the national courts concerned only the interpretation of Community law and, thus, the Court could not consider the issue of direct effect. In other words, the decision on the consequences of the interpretation given by the Court to the outcome of the main proceedings was entirely left for the national courts. This reasoning is supported by the judge Moitinho de Almeida who has recently stated: Quant aux arrêts Bernáldez et Bellone [...] il y a lieu d observer que la Cour s est limitée à répondre aux questions posées, sans attirer l attention des jurisdictions nationales sur l exclusion de l effet direct horizontal. 32 It is important to note that in all cases in which the Court was specifically asked to rule on horizontal direct effect of directives (ex. Faccini Dori and El Corte Ingles), this issue was resolved in the negative. On the other hand, in Pafitis, Bernáldez and Smithkline, it was clear from the facts that the disputes in the main proceedings involved two individuals. This means that the Court must have been aware that the application of interpreted provisions of directives by the national courts would result in imposing obligations on one of the parties. Some authors doubt whether one could reasonably expect the Court to give a ruling that would not have any influence on the main proceedings before the national jurisdiction due to the lack of horizontal direct effect 33. In response to the last argument one should refer to the nature of the preliminary ruling procedure. The Court should not refuse to interpret the directive on the basis that the interpretation due to the lack of horizontal direct effect is not necessary for the national court to give the judgment. The recent case law on Article 234 confirms that: [I]t is solely for the national court before which the dispute has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances of the case both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court 34. In principle, therefore, the Court should reply to the questions relating to the interpretation of directives, even if a dispute in the main proceedings involves two individuals. A national judge may need the interpretation of directive provisions for several reasons, not only if he envisages the direct application thereof. Usually, the 31 See W. van Gerven, Of Rights and Remedies in the Enforcement of European Community Law before National Courts: From the Communitarization of Domestic Law towards the Europeanization of Community Law, Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law, Volume VIII, Book 1, Kluwer Law International 2001, p. 259 and J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, L effet direct des directives, l interprétation conforme du droit national et la jurisprudence de la Cour Supr me de Justice portugaise [w:] Une communauté de droit. Festschrift für Gil Carlos Rodriguez Iglesias, (Hrsg.) N. Colneric, D. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet, D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Berlin 2003, s P. Figueroa Regueiro, Invocability of Substitution and Invocability of Exclusion: Bringing Legal Realism to the Current Developments of the Case-Law of Horizontal Direct Effect of Directives, Jean Monnet Working Papers 7/02, NYU School of Law, p

14 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... preliminary ruling procedure aims at providing a national court with the tools as to how to interpret national legislation implementing the directive concerned or, where it deals with lack of implementation, how to interpret existing national law in order to achieve the result sought by the directive (the doctrine of consistent interpretation). Under no circumstances is the Court of Justice competent to interpret national law and to decide on the limits of the consistent interpretation stemming from national law. These issues belong exclusively to the national courts. In Pafitis, Bernáldez and Smithkline the Court provided the national judges with the interpretation of the relevant directive provisions, but left them without any assistance with the problem whether existing national law could be interpreted in such a way as to achieve the result prescribed by the directives. This conclusion seems to be supported by the above-mentioned rulings on the interpretation of Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents. In Bellone the Court gave an interpretation of the Directive without any reference to its direct effect, even though the dispute involved two individuals. In a subsequent case relating to the same issue, Centrosteel, another Italian court expressed doubts whether the application of the judgement of Bellone could result in imposing obligations on individuals. The Court clearly stated that a directive cannot of itself impose obligations on individuals and that the task of the national court was limited to apply the doctrine of consistent interpretation: [T]he national court that has to interpret that law must do so, as far as possible, in the light of the wording and the purpose of the directive so as to achieve the result it has in view and thereby comply with the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EC Treaty (now the third paragraph of Article 249 EC. Similar reasoning could explain the approach of the Court in the recent cases of Oceano 35 and Heininger 36. Both judgments concerned the interpretation of directives on consumer protection and involved disputes between individuals. Nevertheless, it was not evident from the facts whether referring courts could interpret applicable national laws in such a way as to achieve the result sought by the directives. Accordingly, the case of Daihatsu 37 illustrates that the Court does not refuse to rule on horizontal direct effect if the national court requires this information. To my knowledge, the only case in which the Court raised the problem of horizontal direct effect of directives, of its own motion, is Riunione Adriatica di Securt SpA (RAS). Even though the referring court sought only the interpretation of the Directive 73/239/EEC, the Court pointed out that it was apparent from the facts that the purpose of the main proceedings was to disapply the Decree-Law in favour of previous national legislation on the ground that the Decree-Law was incompatible with the Directive. The Court recalled the principle of the denial of horizontal direct effect of directives. 34 Judgment of 1 December 1998, Ecotrade, C-200/97, [1998] ECR I Judgment of 27 June 2000, C-244/98, [2000] ECR I Judgment of 13 December 2001, C-481/99, [2001] ECR I Judgment of 4 December 1997, C-97/96, [1997] ECR I

15 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... One could conclude that, while interpreting directives, the Court rules on the direct effect provided that: it is specifically asked to rule on that issue by the national court; or it is apparent from the information provided by the referring court or from the observations submitted to the Court of Justice that the purpose of the main proceedings is give direct effect to a provision of directive in order impose obligations on an individual. There is also another argument presented in academic writings 38 that may support the above explanation of the inconsistencies of the Court s case law. Even though Community law does not allow individuals to rely on the provision of directives against other individuals, it does not prevent national law (substantive or procedural) from generating such effects. For that reason, a national judge may, even in proceedings between individuals, ask the Court to interpret a directive and uphold the rights stemming from this directive, provided that the national law so allows. b) Sword and shield argument Other commentators 39 try to explain the reasoning of the Court by distinguishing two different circumstances in which a directive may potentially be invoked, i.e. as a sword and as a shield. In horizontal situations, a directive cannot be used as a sword, which means that an individual cannot rely upon the application of this directive in order to enforce his rights against the other party. On the other hand, an individual may use the directive as a protective screen against contrary national law (as a shield ). Nonetheless, this kind of reasoning is not convincing and even the same commentators admit that it does not clarify the approach taken by the Court in Bernáldez, Pafitis and Smithkline 40. Furthermore, the criteria used in distinguishing these two circumstances are by no means precise in so far as it depends upon the definitions chosen for shield and sword 41. c) The existence of a public law element The Court s differential approach in the above cases may be also justified by reference to the existence of a public law element. Some authors 42 emphasise the fact that in Bernáldez, the proceedings were brought by the public prosecutor, and in Pafitis, the decision to increase the capital was of quasi-administrative nature. 38 See J. Stuyck, Note on the cases of El Corte Ingles, Bernáldez and Pafitis, 33 CMLRev. 1996, p See Ch. Hilson, T. Downes, Making Sense of Rights..., p See Ch. Hilson, T. Downes, Making Sense of Rights..., p See M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p See Ch. Hilson, T. Downes, Making Sense of Rights..., p. 126 and 127; J. Stuyck, supra, p

16 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... It does not seem correct to argue that the theory of a public law element had any impact on the outcome of the controversial cases and could lead the Court to the recognition of horizontal direct effect of directives. Indeed, the delimitation of public law may vary from one state to another and, in any case, the criteria for distinction between the two branches of law are unclear 43. The inconsistencies of this approach may be easily illustrated by reference to the case law. Referring to the case of Bernáldez, one cannot argue that the only factor that would justify the eventual direct effect of the Directive was the fact that the proceedings were brought by the public prosecutor. It would have been illogical if a victim of a car accident had been allowed to rely upon a directive in criminal proceedings, where the same victim had been precluded from enforcing the right in civil proceedings brought directly against the insurer 44. It must also be noted that some commentators 45 elaborated upon the theory of a public law element in their reasoning aiming to explain the approach of the Court in cases concerning the effect of Directive 83/189/EEC. For them, these cases illustrate the principle that resolution of a preliminary public law issue, such as the incompatibility of national regulations with a superior rule of law, may have certain indirect consequences for the subsequent settlement of private law relations between individuals. Directive 83/189/EEC determines, as a matter of public law, that national legislation must be rendered unenforceable for the lack of notification, what constitutes the preliminary issue that must be settled before addressing the private law liabilities of two individuals within a contractual dispute. Those liabilities are finally determined according to domestic principles of private law alone and have nothing to do with the horizontal direct effect of directives. Despite its obvious shortcomings 46, this reasoning correctly points out the particular nature of Directive 83/189/EEC and emphasises the difference between the inapplicability of a national regulation and its effect on contractual relationships between the parties. Nevertheless, it does not help to explain the doubts stemming from the rulings in the cases of Bernáldez, Pafitis and Smithkline. d) L invocabilité de substitution and l invocabilité d exclusion A very interesting explanation of the above case law has been proposed in more recent legal writings 47. Here the authors suggest that cases traditionally classified under the single heading of direct effect should be divided into two categories. In 43 See the interesting analysis of M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p For the detailed analysis on the relations between the nature of proceedings and the direct effect of directives: D. Colgan, Triangular Situations: The Coup de Grâce for the Denial of Horizontal Direct Effect of Community Directives, 8 EPL 2002, p. 554 et seq. 45 See M. Dougan, 40 CMLRev. 2003, p. 206 and his reference to the publications of J. Betlem and S. Prechal. See also P. Craig, G. de Burca, EU Law, p See M. Dougan, 40 CMLRev. 2003, pp M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p. 516 et seq.; P. Figueroa Regueiro, Invocability of Substitution, p. 27 et seq. 16

17 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... the first category, individuals invoke Community law instead of the less favourable national provision ( l invocabilité de substitution ). The second category includes the situations of individuals seeking the mere refusal of the application of a national provision without an accompanying request for corresponding application of a Community measure ( l invocabilité d exclusion ) 48. In this respect, the authors argue that the cases in which the Court seemed to recognise direct effect of directives belonged to the second category (Bernáldez, Pafitis and Draehmpaehl). As a result, directives can be relied upon in horizontal situations provided that the party is not asking for a direct and immediate application of Community law, but merely for the exclusion of an incompatible national law. It is submitted that this division corresponds to the fundamental doctrines of Community law, that is the concept of direct effect ( l invocabilité de substitution ) and the concept of supremacy ( l invocabilité d exclusion ) 49. The two methods of application of Community law correspond to the almost traditional division of the objective and the subjective direct effect 50, the second being conditional upon the existence of an individual right. The case law on the environmental impact Directive (Kraaijeveld or Linster) particularly proves that this distinction is of vital importance for the proper understanding of Community law. Nonetheless, the usefulness of the same reasoning in explaining the inconsistencies of the case law on the horizontal direct effect of directives is controversial. One cannot deny that the advantage in this kind of reasoning is that it is seems to be consistent with the fundamental concepts of Community law and it may provide for a comprehensive explanation of the approach of the Court in some cases. Nevertheless, the main reservations to the theory come from the difficulties arising in its application in practice. Indeed, the delimitation of l invocabilité de substitution and l invocabilité d exclusion is almost as difficult a task as that of distinguishing between using Community law as a sword and as a shield. One author, P. Figueroa Regueiro 51, argues that the case of Ingmar 52 shows a clear distinction between l invocabilité de substitution and l invocabilité d exclusion. This case concerned the interpretation of Articles 17 and 18 of Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents, which specify the circumstances under which the commercial agent is entitled, upon termination of the contract, to claim indemnity for the damage he suffers from the termination of the agency contract. This Directive was implemented in the UK. Do you need this? In 1989 Ingmar and Eaton concluded a contract under which Ingmar was appointed as Eaton s commercial agent in the United Kingdom. One clause of the contract stipulated that 48 The authors refer to the arguments as well as the vocabulary which were presented by Advocate General Léger in the opinion to the case of Lister (the opinion of 11 January 2000, [2000] ECR I-6917, paragraphs 57 et seq.). 49 M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p See M. Ruffert, Rights and Remedies in European Community Law: A Comparative View, 34 CMLRev. 1997, p. 320 et seq.; S. Prechal, Does Direct Effect, p. 1053; P. Craig, G. de Burca, EU Law, p. 181 et seq. 51 P. Figueroa Regueiro, Invocability of Substitution, p. 32 et seq. 52 Judgment of 9 November 2000, C-381/98, [2000] ECR I

18 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... the contract was governed by the Laws of the State of California. After the termination of the contract, Ingmar instituted proceedings before an English court seeking compensation for damage suffered as a result of the termination of its relations with Eaton. The question referred to the Court of Justice was whether Articles 17 and 18 of the Directive must be applied where the commercial agent carried on his activity in a Member State, but a clause of the contract stipulates that the contract was to be governed by the law of that country. Despite the fact that the main proceedings involved two individuals, the Court ruled that: Articles 17 and 18 of Council Directive 86/653/EEC of 18 December 1986 on the coordination of the laws of the Member States relating to self-employed commercial agents, which guarantee certain rights to commercial agents after termination of agency contracts, must be applied where the commercial agent carried on his activity in a Member State although the principal is established in a non-member country and a clause of the contract stipulates that the contract is to be governed by the law of that country. According to the author, the outcome of the judgment is that the Directive imposed an obligation on one of the parties through the exclusion of application of national law ( l invocabilité d exclusion ): [T]he national provisions according to which the parties to the agency contract may agree for it to be governed by the law of a non-member State should be disapplied. The contract would be ruled by the British transposing measures and as a consequence the national court could comply with the directive by granting damages on the basis of national legislation. 53 This way of reasoning is not only unfounded, but also misses the core issue of the case of Ingmar. In fact, the Court ruled in this case that Articles 17 and 18 of the Directive must be considered as internationally mandatory rules (lois d application nécessaire), i.e. they must be applicable irrespective which legal system governs the contractual relations between the parties 54. In that case, the parties agreed to submit their contract to the Law of California, but due to the fact that the agent carried on his activity in a Member State, the Court stated that Articles 17 and 18 of the Directive must, nonetheless, be applied. The outcome of that ruling for the referring court was that Ingmar could rely on the provisions of the English legislation implementing the relevant Articles of the said Directive. The referring court did not need to grant direct effect to Articles 17 and 18 of the Directive, but instead, it was under a duty to interpret the national law in such a way as to conform to the ruling of the Court of Justice. The possibility for parties to choose the law applicable to their contract stems from the basic principle of contractual autonomy which is protected even on a Community level 55. The argument that the national provisions, according to which the parties to the agency contract may agree for it to be governed by the law of a 53 P. Figueroa Regueiro, Invocability of Substitution, p See Article 7 of the 1980 Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations. 55 Idem. 18

19 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... non-member State, should be disapplied is unfounded for several reasons. First of all, one can hardly understand which provision of national law should be disapplied: Is it the principle of contractual autonomy itself? What if under English conflict of law rules, Californian Law would be applicable to the contract even in the absence of the choice (ex. as the law most closely connected with the contract or as the law where the principal has its place of business)? Secondly, nothing in the judgment suggests that the Court denied the parties autonomy to choose the law applicable to the contract. In fact, according to Article 19 of the Directive the parties may only not derogate from Articles 17 and 18. It means that other rights and obligations of the parties that arise out of the contract are still governed by the Law of California. Other authors 56 referring to the case of Bernáldez, argue that it concerned the mere exclusion of the application of the national law which was in conflict with the relevant directive ( l invocabilité d exclusion ). The facts of this case, however, can be also analysed from another perspective. The victim of a car accident was entitled to claim damages from the driver under general rules of tort liability. On the other hand, the liability of the insurer was subsidiary and its scope was precisely defined by the contract concluded between the company and the driver as well as by statutory provisions on compulsory insurance. In the proceedings in question, the liability of the insurer did not arise and, accordingly, under national law the victim did not have any right to claim damages against the insurer. In these circumstances, the fact that the victim invokes the directive conferring on him such a right must be considered as a direct application of Community law ( l invocabilité de substitution ). The two cases show that the distinction between l invocabilité de substitution and l invocabilité d exclusion becomes purely formalistic. Depending on how we would proceed to the analysis of a particular case, we can classify the method of giving effect to Community Law either as l invocabilité de substitution or l invocabilité d exclusion. One should bear in mind that, especially in cases relating to contractual disputes, it is sometimes almost impossible to identify whether a specific right or obligation results from the national legislation or from the contractual terms and conditions. This can be easily illustrated by the facts of the case Eco-Emballages, where the approved undertaking and its client were obliged to enter into a contract in accordance with standard terms that had to fulfil the requirements of the national legislation 57. It is obvious that the sanction of inapplicability ( l invocabilité d exclusion ) could only refer to national legislation and cannot of itself extend to freestanding contractual obligations. Each time the Community Law, through the doctrine of direct effect, modifies rights of obligations stemming from the contract, we are rather facing l invocabilité de substitution. Other arguments put forward by the authors of the theory in question are not convincing either. First of all, the thesis that the classic test for direct effect does not have to be fulfilled if the party is asking for the mere exclusion of an incompatible national law 58 does not justify the conclusion that the two ways of 56 M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p See interesting analysis of M. Dougan, 40 CMLRev. 2003, p. 203 et seq. 58 M. Lenz, D.S. Tynes, L. Young, Horizontal What?..., p

20 Direct Effect of Community Directives in National Courts... giving effect to Community Law should be treated differently 59. Finally, one cannot ignore the fact that the Court refused the suggestions of Advocates-General Saggio 60 and Alber 61 who called for the horizontal application of directives provided that this would result in a duty not to apply national law which is contrary to the directive ( l invocabilité d exclusion ). e) Direct effect of directives in triangular situations Another plausible explanation is to argue that cases like Pafitis should be examined together with cases on so-called triangular effect of directives 62. These situations occur when individuals invoke the provisions of directives that impose specific obligations on the state, but the compliance by the state with these obligations has negative consequences for the legal position of other individuals. It can be simply illustrated by directives on public procurement. An undertaking whose tender for a public contract has been rejected on grounds inconsistent with a directive challenges that rejection, even if the public contract has been awarded to a third party. In these situations the Court recognizes horizontal direct effect of directives 63. Referring this argumentation to Pafitis, one could argue that what the old shareholders contested was in fact an administrative act (the decision of the temporary administrator of the bank on behalf of the Governor of the Bank of Greece), the annulment of which had adverse consequences for the bank and its new shareholders. The fact that the proceedings were brought before a civil court is of little importance. One could easily imagine that in another legal system the same question could be dealt with by an administrative court in the proceedings for annulment of the decision of the temporary administrator 64. This explanation, however, does not help to clarify the Court s approach in the cases of Bernáldez 65 and Smithkline. 59 It is true that the traditional requirement that the provision of Community must be unconditional and sufficiently precise looses its importance. It is also correctly observed in the recent legal writings that the conditions for direct effect cannot be separated from the context of the concrete case (S. Prechal, Does Direct Effect, p. 1064). 60 Opinion to the case Oceano, [2000] ECR I-4961, point Opinion to the case Collino and Chiappero, [2000] ECR I-6670, point See K. Lackhoff, H. Nyssens, Direct Effect of Directives in Triangular Situations, 23 ELR 1998, p. 397; D. Colgan, Triangular Situations, p. 545; A. Arnull, A. Dashwood, M. Ross, D. Wyatt, European Union Law, London 2000, p. 102 et seq.; W. van Gerven, Of Rights and Remedies..., p. 263 and See for example: judgment of 12 November 1994, R. v The Medicines Control Agency, C-201/94, [1996] ECR I-5819; judgment of 22 June 1989, Fratelli Constanzo, C-103/88, [1989] ECR I-1839; judgment of 16 September 1999, WWF, C-435/97, [1999] ECR I It must be noted that the situations in which the triangular effect may occur are divided into three categories, see K. Lackhoff, H. Nyssens, Direct Effect, p. 401 and It must be noted, however, that in the case of Daihatsu that similarly to Pafitis could be analysed from the perspective of triangular effect, the Court expressly refused horizontal direct effect of directives. 65 Nonetheless, according to M. Colgan (Triangular Situations, p. 556), the theory of non-classical triangular effect could also provide for the explanation to the decision in Bernáldez. 20

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